Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Shay Given has criticized Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho for a dangerous tackle on Jacob Ramsey. Given thinks the tackle should have gotten the Argentine a red card during the Blues’ 2-2 draw at St James’ Park on Saturday.
The 21-year-old only got a yellow card for the first-half challenge, which made the Magpies and their former goalkeeper unhappy. Garnacho eventually played the whole 90 minutes against Newcastle, only his second full Premier League game since joining Chelsea from Manchester United this summer.
Nick Woltemade scored twice in the first 20 minutes to give Chelsea a chance to come back from two goals down. Reece James and Joao Pedro then scored to give the visitors a point.
Given didn’t hold back when he talked about the incident with Ramsey on the BBC’s Match of the Day:
“I understand Eddie Howe’s frustrations because some of the decisions I actually disagreed with myself. There was a few decisions the referee had to make and they weren’t easy, don’t get me wrong.”
He added:
“The first one came in the first half, and I thought it was a really nasty challenge from Alejandro Garnacho. If you watch it slowly, he doesn’t make any attempt to play the ball, he goes over the top and clearly catches him really high up. VAR didn’t intervene, but I think that’s a really dangerous tackle from Garnacho and one he gets away with.”
If Garnacho had been given a straight red card for foul play, he would have missed the games against Aston Villa on December 27, AFC Bournemouth on December 30, and Manchester City on January 4. Since the yellow card wasn’t upgraded, the former Red Devils star is still available for Chelsea’s busy holiday schedule.
Later that day, Tottenham midfielder Xavi Simons received a straight red card for a similar foul on Virgil van Dijk, drawing even more attention to the incident. It also made fans question how consistently officials make decisions.
Malo Gusto praises Alejandro Garnacho’s skill
Even though there was a lot of talk about him at St. James’ Park, Garnacho has shown Chelsea how valuable he is in the past few weeks. French defender Malo Gusto quickly praised the Argentine after he set up Gusto’s first senior goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Gusto said:
“He has a lot of quality as a winger… He’s able to bring all our team into their box, which is part of the plan for us, asking the wingers to do these kinds of things, dribble, of course, and create chances. That’s what he did; he helped us a lot with his crosses. So I’m very happy to be playing with him.”
Garnacho had two assists in the 3-0 win over Wolves. He first set up Gusto’s first goal and then crossed the ball for Pedro Neto to score the third.